Wow…it’s another beautiful day again today!  We have had a great weekend weather-wise!  I hope you are enjoying your Sunday wherever you are! 

Today is another challenge day for the SCS Dirty Dozen and Alumni.  Betty (gbedwright) challenged us with the theme of Dirty Dinners!  Yum…I enjoy checking out new recipes so I knew this was one I wouldn’t want to miss!  I also enjoy scrapping our favorite recipes in a 6×6 format and Betty’s challenge was just the incentive I needed to get another one done.  ;0)

Here’s Betty’s info:

Challenge: Dirty Dinner Recipe paper project. Share at least one tried and true prepared entree recipe in decorative paper crafting format of choice.

Restricted Element: There are NO restrictions…bring on the calories, carbs, fat grams, and sugars!!!! We can alter it on our own if need be.

Required Element: It must be something you have cooked and your family LOVED it!!!! Also, share a little bit about the history of this recipe and how it came to be.

Well, it wasn’t hard to think of which recipe to scrap!  This is one of my family’s favorite dinners.  I think I started cooking it a little over a year ago (can’t remember where it came from) and we have had it so many times that I’m surprised they aren’t sick of it yet.  LOL.  They keep requesting it and it’s so easy.  I wanted to try making the recipe in a Crock Pot shape since that is how the dish is prepared.  So here’s what I came up with…I hope it looks like a slow cooker! 

I tried printing the recipe title onto acetate to resemble the glass lid but it wasn’t turning out very well in my printer.  So I pulled out some cardstock weight vellum instead and I think it worked pretty well.  First I drew a quick pattern and then I printed the recipe on red cardstock in the size I needed.  It was cut out in a rectangle and the bottom corners were rounded.  Then I used the SU! Word Window punch to make the handles and round the edges of the black rim.  Next I traced my lid pattern over the title and cut it out.  The top edge was lightly inked with black and I added a punched circle for the handle.  A smaller circle and a square brad were used for the knob to adjust the temperature.  (I could swear I had some triangle brads but where they are I don’t have a clue!)  To finish it off, I added a small strip to the base which I’m hoping resembles the cord.  The stamped images are from my Create A Recipe and Cupcake Occasions sets. 

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it.  I always leave out the mushrooms since I’m the only one who cares for them but someday I might just sneak them in.  ;0) 

Italian Chicken With Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless chicken breast halves

2 envelopes dry Italian salad dressing mix

1/2 cup water

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

4 oz. can mushrooms, drained

16 ounces frozen broccoli cuts

fettuccine noodles or rice

Directions:

Place chicken in the crock pot. Mix the salad dressing mix with the water and pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours (on high if frozen).

Mix the cream cheese and soup. Stir in the mushroom and pour over the chicken. Add broccoli and cook for about 1-2 hours longer on high.

Prepare noodles or rice according to package directions.

Serve chicken and cream sauce over noodles or rice.

stamps- Create A Recipe and Cupcake Occasions by Cookie Crumbs; paper- red, black, white, Wasabi, Bordering Blue, vellum cardstock, dp by Flair Designs; ink- Memento Black; accessories- SU! Word Window punch and Oval punches, circle punches, corner rounder, square brads, Copic markers, Stickles, gel pen.

Welcome to the CC Designs Autumn Sugarplums Blog Hop!!

The Autumn Sugarplums release is so large the whole team wanted to participate so we decided to do our very first blog hop!

If you’ve just happened across my blog and didn’t start at the beginning click here <—–click!

When I finished coloring my images, I changed my mind on the project I wanted to create.  I was originally planning to make a card as usual but then I decided to make a 6×6 scrap page.  I know…..don’t faint!  LOL.  We all know how bad I am at scrapping but I tried to scale it down a bit and this time I was rather pleased.  (There may be hope for me yet!  ha ha!)

The Autumn Sugarplums kit is soooo cute and easy to work with!  Here’s what I came up with.  All I need to do yet is add the year to my page but I wasn’t sure yet where/how I wanted to do that.  I might just write the year on the pumpkin in the bottom corner.  Any suggestions? 

And here’s a close up of the Sugarplum images.

here’s the deets:

stamps- C.C. Designs Autumn Sugarplum Stamp Kit; paper- White, Pumpkin, Choc. Chip, Olive, tan, Bo Bunny Autumn Plaid; ink- Memento black, Caramel; accessories- Copics, Labels 1 Nesties, sponge, gel pen, Martha Stewart Pumpkin Patch border punch, ribbon, circle punch,button, linen thread.

Don’t forget to comment! ONE random comment from one of the blog hop posts will be chosen to win the ENTIRE Autumn Sugarplums stamp collection!! So make sure to leave a comment on each post to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by! Continue the hop by visiting Lauren.

edit:  This contest is now closed! A random winner was chosen from one of the posts and is posted at the top of the original ATS blog hop post HERE <—–click!

Thank you all so much for stopping by and commenting! We can’t wait to do this again!

Sorry I am so late in posting again about the release tonight!  It’s only a few hours away.  So if you read this in time, pop on over to ATS and chat with us!

I spent part of my time this afternoon visiting a friend who has not been feeling well and got some sad news from the doctors.  I would appreciate if you would keep her in your prayers.  Thanks so much!  She is very dear to me.

I also took a few pics this afternoon of some projects I recently made.  One I will share tomorrow and here is the other one. 

Now, remember please, that I am not a scrapper.  LOL.  Despite that fact, I was rather pleased with how this turned out.  It wasn’t as busy as the kitty pages I shared a few months ago!  ha ha. 

The stamps used here are from the C.C. Designs Spring Things and Hunny Bunnies sets that will be released tonight!  Don’t you just love this fence??  The set is full of cuteness but I think the fence and ducky are my faves! 

The bunny, ducky, eggs and top butterfly are all popped up on dimensionals.  I know you can’t see all of the words since they are blurred, but I used a Primer Apples font which matches my faux stitching really nicely.  And I drew a few eggs along the fencerow with my Copics. 

I hope to see you at the release!

stamps- C.C. Designs Spring Things and Hunny Bunnies; paper- pink, white, Saffron, dp- Flair Designs; ink- Memento Black; accessories- Labels 2 Nestabilities, gel pen, Copic markers, pop dots, computer font- Primer Apples.

Here’s a 6×6 recipe page I recently did for a swap.  Of course, I had to try out the recipe first to make sure it was a good one and it got the family’s approval.  ;0)

Someone said they thought that this was a Pampered Chef recipe?  I don’t really know where it came from….I found it on a website somewhere but I never go to the PC site so I’m not sure if that’s where it originated.

Anyway…I used my Cookie Jar and Cookie Jar-gon sets for the Oreos, mixing bowl and words.  The truffle is one of Anna Wight’s images and I thought it would be a perfect addition.  The Oreo cookies were stamped with black ink onto brown paper.  Then I used a white gel pen to color in the white center.  It was much easier to do it this way when mass-producing and I thought they turned out kinda cute.  One was popped up on a dimensional.

The base cardstock has a swirly embossed design which is sort of hard to see in the photo.  The cardstock came already embossed which made my background easy!  I chose the colors for the base layer and the printed recipe by looking at the package of cookies.  That gave me the inspiration I needed to start the project. 

Well, I am off to bake another favorite cookie….molasses!  And work on a few more projects.  Have a great day!

stamps- Cookie Jar and Cookie Jar-gon by Cookie Crumbs, truffle by Whipper Snapper; paper- Making Memories Swirl Blue, white, brown, dp- EK Success; ink- Memento Black; accessories- SU! Top Note die, Copic markers, Stickles, SU! Scalloped Circle punch, Circle Nestabilities, SU! Word Window punch.

Guess what Santa brought! 

Well, she was a bit late for Christmas, but a sweet present to ourselves anyway!  

Now if only she will train quickly….*crossing fingers*.   :0)  If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family!

Ok, so below is a recipe page I did a few months ago.  One of my favorite pies is a custard pie.  I just called this Berry Custard because I use blueberries or raspberries.  And if you are short on time, it can be baked in a baking dish without the crust- still yummy!

I used the House Mouse Pumpkin Pie image and just made the pie a different color.  The fun decorative paper is by Flair Designs and I purchased it at All That Scraps.  Christine has a ton of papers to choose from!

In case it’s difficult to read from the picture, here’s the recipe:

4 slightly beaten eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups  milk

cinnamon

fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries

1 T. flour 

Blend the first four ingredients.  Stir in the milk.  Pour into a baking dish or unbaked pie shell and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Shake berries in a bag with the flour and add to the custard.  Bake @ 400° for 45 minutes.  Let cool and then refrigerate.

stamps- House Mouse Pumpkin Pie and footprints by Hero Arts; paper- SU! Pumpkin and Choc. Chip, non-SU! Blue, Red, White, and Beige, dp- Flair Designs; ink- Palette Black; accessories- Stickles, Copic markers, Nestabilities, SU! Curly Label punch

My friend invited me to stamp recently and she said that she needed to make a baby shower gift.  Well, that was just a perfect theme for me too because I am overdue with a gift for a shower that I was unable to attend.  My friend suggested we make a paper bag album and I came up with the “Baby’s First Christmas” theme since it is getting close to the holiday and I had these *cute* Rachelle Anne Miller stamps that I was eager to use.  Rachelle’s images are just adorable and perfect for a baby theme!

I started out by machine stitching the binding on the bags (we used 3 lunch size bags).  I also machine stitched the main image to the layer on the front cover.  All of the other stitches you see are faux stitching with a Micron pen or a gel pen.  This was a fun project to create together because we could share our dies, punches, papers and embellishments!  Of course, we didn’t get it all done in one night but we got everything stamped, punched and laid out.  I did all of the coloring, glueing and finishing touches later.  I decided not to stamp any words on the tags, etc. so that the recipient could personalize it however they want as they add their own photos of this joyful Christmas holiday.        

*Just a note- the Rachelle Anne Miller images, along with the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities can be found at All That Scraps.  And right now Christine has the Limited Edition Holiday folders on sale so go check ‘em out! 

Here are pics of the pages inside:

recipe: are you ready for this?  :0)

stamps- Rachelle Anne Miller: Gifts Tree, Moose, Mouse, Snowman, Teddy Bear, and Angelface by Stampavie; paper- Real Red, Regal Rose, Creative Memories Green and patterned paper, White; ink- Palette Black; accessories- white lunch sized paper bags, sewing machine, Copic markers, Primas, circle clip, ribbons, buttons, gemstone, brads, glue dots, red-line tape, Shimmerz paint, Liquid Pearls, Stickles; punches- SU! Round Tab punch and Small Oval punch, Martha Stewart Ribbon Threader and Doily Lace punches, Emagination bulb punch, unknown holly punch; Sizzix diecuts- Sizzlet Tags, Picket Fence, Primitive Hearts; Nestabilities- Double Ended Tags, Ribbon Tags Trio, Labels 1 & 2, Squares, Rectangles; Cuttlebug- A2 folders- Baby, Christmas Ornaments, Holly, Snow Dots, Snowflakes, dies- Snowflake #2, Snow Fun Combo, Treetops Combo, Ice Crystal Combo. 

Today’s challenge at All That Scraps was to make something with a “Back to School” theme.  I don’t have this retired C.C. Designs set but a friend RAK’d me some images to work with.  Thank you!  :0)  I decided to do a Back to School 6×6 scrap page.  The bright pink rectangle on the right is where the photo will be placed.  I think it turned out a lot better than my last scrap pages (which were pretty much a disaster…LOL).  Hopefully I’ll improve!

The images were colored with Copic markers.  I first stamped the tiny fish from the Summertime Fun set onto the lunch pail and bookbag.  And I also stamped some words from the Sentiment Set on her shirt and bookbag.  The little book was cut out and used as an accent for the date.  This paper is so sparkly!  It’s from the DCWV Summertime Glitter stack.  The little flower was cut from fun foam with the Cuttlebug Asterisks die.   

Hop on over to the ATS blog to check out some great samples for this challenge and then pop in the message board to get the info to play along!  

stamps- Daphne Goes to School, Sentiment Set, Summertime Fun- C.C. Designs

paper- white, pink, DCWV- Summertime Glitter Stack

ink- Black

accessories- Copic markers, gel pen, Nestabilities, oval punch, Cuttlebug Asterisks die, fun foam.

OK, all you scrapbookers out there….please don’t laugh!  LOL.  I’m still a newbie at scrapping and I really am trying….really….I am!  ;)  This page just seems a bit busy doesn’t it?  hehe.  Well, I’ll try to learn from it.  What I really wanted to share with you is the stamped images.  C.C. Designs will be releasing some cute new sets next week and this is my first sneak peek.  This set is called Pretty Kitties and includes 2 cats, some words and a little mouse.  The words “Pretty kitty” and “one cool cat” were stamped directly onto the photos.  Another new set was used here called “All The Months” which is just what the title describes…all of the months in a super cute font!  When I saw the cat stamps and the month words, I thought it would be the “purr-fect” time to scrap some kitty photos!  Henrietta is no longer with us.  She lived to be about 13 and she was such a nice cat.  Well, she could get naughty too!  LOL.  She even managed to open the screen door!  The photo above shows one of her favorite spots that she liked to sleep.  I could never keep flowers planted in this little flower box because she would lay right in the dirt with them.  The flowers would die and dirt was dumped everywhere so I eventually gave up and let her sleep there.  The flowers look so pretty in the box right now and I think of her everytime I see them.   

Here’s the other kitty in the stamp set.  They sure have personality!  The brown mouse on the right was colored and popped up.  I stamped the crown from the first kitty and cut it out, attaching it to the photo.  How fitting…. she sure acted like a princess at times!  Some Stickles was added to the flowers and crowns for sparkle.  Gotta have some bling!  Check back tomorrow for another sneak peek and check the ATS blog for more great samples.

stamps- Pretty Kitties, All The Months- C.C. Designs

paper- Regal Rose, Apricot, Wasabi, White, Pumpkin, Bliss Blue

ink- Black, Pumpkin, Wasabi

accessories- circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Arrows die, gel pen, Primas, Stickles, Copic markers

I am branching out of my comfort zone here. The only scrapbooking I’ve done is about 5 pages, a few 6×6 recipe pages, and 2 layouts that were made at the SU! regionals I attended. I really never thought that I’d be interested in scrapbooking but I learned a long time ago to “never say never”. A few years ago I had a wonderful secret sister who put so much thought into her gift and made me a 6×6 album of pages that were stamped and ready for pictures to be added. I’ll never forget how surprised I was at this thoughtful gift! It is one to cherish! Well, this was the time I would have to say that piqued my interest in scrapbooking.
So now, I am participating in a 2 page 6×6 swap with some friends. I was assigned the theme of “fall” and here’s what I made to swap. I needed to make 22 of these so I hope there won’t be 21 disappointed ladies! LOL. The little acorn was stamped “second generation” to make it lighter. (It was stamped on scrap paper once and then onto the circle without re-inking) I thought it would be nice to write the date that the photo was taken on top of the acorn. And after piercing all of the holes, I still had it in my mind that I wanted some stitches in certain areas so I drug out the sewing machine for a few more accents. I need to move on now to some other projects but if you have any scrapbooking advice, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

stamps- Big Deal alphabet, Karen Foster Snap Stamps, Autumn Fest
paper- Olive, non-SU, Apple Cider ds paper
ink- Choc. Chip, Rust, Mustard, Pumpkin
accessories- Scallop Circle punch, Photo Corners punch, Coluzzle, circle punches, Paper Piercing tools, copper brad, sewing machine

Here’s a 6×6 recipe page I recently made for a swap. I took the photo that I previously posted and reduced the size. Then I placed 8 of them together to fit on a 4×6 size sheet of photo paper and made a few prints. The recipe was printed onto vellum and wheeled with the Bold Snowflakes Jumbo wheel. The snowman and snowflakes are Cuttlebug dies….very fun to use! A snowy ground was cut free-hand from white cardstock. And the holly was stamped, cut out and accented with a red eyelet for the berry.

stamps- Bold Snowflakes wheel, Sleigh Bells Ring (holly)
paper- vellum, non SU!
ink- Bashful, Garden, Cocoa, Pretty in Pink
accessories- photo, eyelet, staples, Cuttlebug Snowflakes #2 die and Winter die